Carol Johnson, Southern Indiana Business Report
BEDFORD – As a longtime Bedford pharmacist, pharmacy owner and commercial property developer, Ralph Anderson has received several accolades for his dedication to his customers and his community.
In 2013, he was named the Donald L. Moore Independent Pharmacist of the Year, in 2023, Crowder’s Pharmacy was named the Bedford Chamber’s Small Business of the Year, in 2022, Lincoln Avenue Pharmacy received the Chamber’s Beautification Award and in 1988 he received a Sagamore of the Wabash from Gov. Robert Orr.
There was one achievement he was still seeking – an NCAA Final Four banner for his beloved alma mater. It’s been more than 40 years since the Boilermakers reached the Final Four and Anderson, 89, is not going to miss it.
The 1956 graduate of the Purdue University College of Pharmacy has waited decades for this moment. A season ticket holder for more than 50 years, Anderson and several family members will travel to Glendale, Arizona, to watch 2023 National Player of the Year Zach Edey and the Purdue Boilermakers take on NC State Saturday in the Final Four of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
“He’s been waiting on this for a long time,” said his daughter Ann Garrison, who booked flights and hotel rooms for Ralph and four other family members right after Purdue beat Tennessee last Sunday to advance to the first Final Four.
“He’s been a season ticket holder my whole life,” Garrison said. “We try to get him to every home game unless it’s a 9 o’clock game in the middle of the week.”
Anderson, who also has season tickets to Purdue football games, has attended two Rose Bowl games (once when Purdue played and another when IU played), and several bowl games. He attended one other Final Four. In 1969, Anderson and his son Dale traveled to Louisville where Purdue played UCLA in the final game. The Boilers lost by 20 to a team coached by John Wooden, who played for Purdue from 1929-32.
Purdue stunned its fans last year, losing in the first round of the tournament. Ann said her dad has been talking about Purdue making it to the 2024 Final Four all season – and that he would be at the game.
Anderson never doubted his Boilers would go deep in this year’s tournament and he’s quick to answer why, “Zach Edey.”
At his age, it would be easy to stay home and watch the game, but Anderson said this team is special.
Meeting Zach, Julia Edey
“At Purdue, after the game, the players come out of the locker room and talk to the fans. I’ve met quite a few of them. They are all very receptive to the fans,” he said.
Anderson’s favorite player is Zach Edey, who he met at Purdue’s last home game. Edey was surrounded by fans seeking autographs when someone pointed out that Anderson had been waiting to meet him. Edey walked away from the group and headed for Anderson.
A photo taken of them was made into a T-shirt that Anderson wore to Purdue’s first-round NCAA games in Indianapolis.
A family member posted the photo of Anderson wearing the shirt on a Purdue fans social media site, Boilers in the Stands, and then it was shared on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“It got almost 100,000 views,” Garrison said.
One of those views was by Julia Edey, mom of Zach.
After attending Purdue’s game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Anderson, who was wearing the shirt, was leaving the arena with his family when they saw Julia Edey.
She saw Anderson wearing the shirt and recognized him from the post. The two met and now Anderson has a photo with Julia Edey, which has since been added to the shirt.
Anderson will attend the game with Ann, his granddaughter Jennifer Inman, great-grandson Tucker Inman and son-in-law Rusty Garrison.
How it began
Seeing his beloved Boilers in the Final Four “is fantastic,” he said. Winning it all would be “better than fantastic,” he said with a big grin.
Anderson said he never thought about being a pharmacist until he took a job working at a Lafayette drug store.
“I was 15 and delivered prescriptions on my bicycle,” he said.
The owner encouraged him to enroll at Purdue to study pharmacy and was so committed to his education that he paid for Anderson’s tuition.
Anderson brought his wife Mary and young family to Bedford in 1957 to work for Crowder’s Pharmacy, which at the time was on Lincoln Avenue in a building that has since been torn down. The family lived in an upstairs apartment and Mary delivered prescriptions from the family station wagon.
Ralph’s son Steve and grandson Josh Anderson followed in his footsteps and are also pharmacists.
Over the years, Anderson has developed a half a dozen commercial properties in Bedford that provide space for small businesses and nonprofits.
He developed Lincoln Plaza on Lincoln Avenue, a business center across from Bedford City Hall and Crowder’s Plaza on 16th Street and G Street.
He said he never set out to get into real estate, but it became something he enjoyed and it spurred local economic development. Anderson was content being a pharmacist when the owner of Crowder’s approached him about taking over.
He jokes he was “forced into it.” Other opportunities followed, including a building downtown and the hospital pharmacy in what was Bedford Medical Center.
“It’s been a good journey.”